Labor Day thoughts: When working hard just isn’t enough

Friday

Aug 31, 2007 at 12:01 AMAug 31, 2007 at 6:09 PM

It’s pretty well established (I hope) that minimum wage jobs don’t pay enough to support one person, let alone a family. (In Mass.: $7.50/hr = $300/wk). What’s also true but perhaps lesser known is that the suburban poor now outnumber the poor in urban areas. Another lesser known fact is that almost 9 percent of people depending on Social Security for retirement fall below the poverty line. Then there’s that stunning fact about how many hours it takes a CEO to earn the annual pay of a minimum wage earner!

Donna McDaniel

It’s pretty well established (I hope) that minimum wage jobs don’t pay enough to support one person, let alone a family. (In Mass.: $7.50/hr = $300/wk). What’s also true but perhaps lesser known is that the suburban poor now outnumber the poor in urban areas. Another lesser known fact is that almost 9 percent of people depending on Social Security for retirement fall below the poverty line. Then there’s that stunning fact about how many hours it takes a CEO to earn the annual pay of a minimum wage earner!

One more thing regarding Social Security. Let’s lay to rest the claims that undocumented immigrants are robbing the coming generation of their entitlements—the title of a New York Times article says it all: Their contributions are actually “Bolstering Social Security with Billions.” They pay in with invalid numbers so they will never collect on those contributions, now calculated at some $7 billion a year, providing a much-needed infusion of money. (Find the articles on See http://www.immigrationforum.org.

So, now, in keeping with thoughts about our labor, here are some things to consider about poverty in this country. The material is from the Friends Committee on National Legislation, a Quaker organization well respected for the nonpartisan material it provides on federal legislation and policies. It’s in the form of a quiz with a chance to think before you find the answers below—all questions refer to the U.S. And I’ve already given you partial answers.

1. What percent of poor children are in families with at least one working parent?

2. About what portion of jobs pay too little to keep a family of 4 out of poverty?

3. Do most poor people live in large metropolitan areas or the suburbs?

4. If you earn below the poverty line, you are most likely to be of what race?

5. Which racial or ethnic group has the highest percentage living in poverty?

6. In 2005, 37 million people were officially considered “poor.” About how many were living in extreme poverty – with incomes below half of the poverty threshold?

7. What portion of elderly people would be poor if they didn’t receive Social Security benefits?

8. What portion of elderly people are poor, even though they receive those benefits?

9. At the 350 largest public companies, the average CEO total direct compensation was $11.6 million in 2005. How long does it take the average CEO to earn the annual pay of a full-time minimum wage worker?

1. Nearly one-fifth of all children (17.6%) live in poverty; about two thirds have one or more working parent. Since 1992, the share of poor children with at least one parent working full-time has increased by 60 percent. [SOURCE: Center for American Progress Task Force on Poverty, “From Poverty to Prosperity: A National Strategy to Cut Poverty in Half” http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2007/04/poverty_report.html.]

2. In 2005, 24 percent of all workers had year-round, full-time work that did not pay enough to keep a family of four above the poverty threshold. The Bureau of Labor Statistics has calculated that the share of jobs requiring a high school diploma or less will remain virtually stable in the next 7 years at around 47% percent. Although more jobs will be created in those years, according to the Bureau of Labor Standards, 18 of the 30 fastest growing job categories pay low or very low wages and are the least likely to provide employer-based benefits such as health care, sick leave, day care benefits, and educational benefits. These workers would be directly impacted by simple legislative fixes such as raising the minimum wage and expanding the Earned Income Tax Credit. [SOURCE: See # 1]

3. No. Since 1999, the number of poor individuals has grown faster in the suburbs. By 2005 suburban poor outnumbered central city counterparts by at least 1 million. The percentage of all people in poverty rose in both places. Research shows that suburbanization doest not bring better access to quality housing, education, or employment opportunities. [SOURCE: Alan Berube and Elizabeth Kneebone, “Two Steps Back: City and Suburban Poverty Trends 1999 – 2005,” The Brookings Institution (December 2006):http://www.brook.edu/metro/pubs/20061205_citysuburban.htm.]

4. People with incomes below the poverty line are most likely to be white: Of the nearly 37 million people living below the poverty line, almost 41 million identified as “White Alone” or “White Alone, not Hispanic.” The Census Bureau allows respondents to choose more than one race. “White Alone” refers to people who reported “White” and did not report any other race category. Hispanic origin and race are regarded by the Census Bureau as two distinct concepts. To learn more about how the U.S. Census Bureau tabulates race and Hispanic origin see: http://www.census.gov/prod/2001pubs/cenbr01-1.pdf [SOURCE: Census Bureau “Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2005” http://www.census.gov/prod/2005pubs/p60-229.pdf]

6. According to the Current Population Survey conducted by the Census Bureau in 2005, nearly 16 million people had incomes below half of the poverty level: less than $9,903 for a family of four or $5,080 for an individual. The poverty threshold in 2005 was $19,971 for a family of four or $9,973 for an individual in 2005. According to a report by McClatchy Newspapers the percentage of people living in severe poverty has reached a 32-year high. The analysis found that the number of severely poor people has grown by 26 percent from 2000 to 2005. [SOURCE: See #1 and Tony Pugh, “U.S. Economy Leaving Record Numbers in Severe Poverty,” McClatchy Newspapers (February 23, 2007). http://www.commondreams.org/headlines07/0223-09.htm.]

7. Leaving aside income from Social Security, 46.8 % of all people 65 and older would fall below the poverty line. [SOURCE: Center on Budget and Policy Priorities http://www.cbpp.org/2-24-05socsec.htm#_ftn1].

8. Even counting Social Security benefits, 8.7 percent of people over 65 still fall below the poverty line. Social Security benefits lift almost 13 million seniors, who would otherwise be poor, above the poverty line. In May 2007, 49.6 million people over 65 received benefits averaging $959.20/mo ($11,510/yr).

Minorities and women are overrepresented among people who remain in poverty even after receiving these benefits. Ten percent beneficiaries are elderly women, 24 percent are elderly African Americans and 19 percent are older Hispanics. Because Social Security does not provide a minimum benefit, “long-service low-wage workers” are usually eligible only for benefits that leave them well below the federal poverty line. [SOURCE: See # 8.]

9. At the 350 largest public companies, the average CEO takes one hour and fifty-five minutes to earn the annual pay of a full-time minimum-wage worker. [SOURCE: Center for American Progress, “State of the Minimum Wage,” (January 2007)